China won its 6th badminton Thomas Cup, whitewashing Denmark, 3-0. World's top shuttler Lin Dan successfully avenged his arch rival Peter Gade in the opening match, leading 4-1 in the first set. Europe's top player Gade survived Lin Dan's sharp attacks and forced the Chinese player to commit several errors to go head on head. Lin, however, would not let go of his lead and drove the Dane to the back court to win the first set, 21-17. The two were stuck in a fierce fight again in the second set where both players displayed world class badminton. Lin Dan managed to stay until the last as he won the set, 21-19, to set a winning tune for defending Champions China. The doubles players were the second to go onto the court. China's Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng were the underdogs. They were beaten by the Danish duo at the China Masters in Chengdu last month. However, in the Thomas Cup final, the Chinese pair tasted sweet revenge as they climbed from one set behind to topple their rivals in three sets: 19-21, 21-11 and 21-18. Veteran Bao Chunlai completed China's defending task after a few ups and downs. Bao won the first set with ease, 21-12, but lost the second set with the same scores due to excessive service errors. But the determined player fired in the decisive third set with a convincing score, 21-12.
china join much later than indon. if memory serves me well, it is only during late 70s China come in. once the mighty dragons come in, only indonesia can match them, but barely. han jian, luan jin, yang yang, xiong guobao, li yongbo/tian bingi...all are tc legends.
Well, I think if we counted starting when China joined the TC for the 1st time, it is equal. Both win 6 times. China : 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, 2004, 2006 Indonesia : 1984, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 (record : 5 times in a row) Malaysia wins only 1 times in this period (1992)..
List of past and current Thomas & Uber Cup winners.. ...http://www.badmintoncentral.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12819 add CHN to the list for winning in 2004 and 2006, which makes it 6 total...CHN vs. INA head to head record playing in Finals is 2-2..
1982 : London, China 5 - INA 4 1984 : Kuala Lumpur, INA 3 - China 2 1986 : Jakarta, China 3 - INA 2 2000 : Kuala Lumpur, INA 3 - China 0 1982 during Luan Jin era 1984 during Han Jian era 1986 during Yang Yang era 2000 during ? I lost memory of TC/UC during period 1996 till 2000 due to work commitment, so can not see it full.
1984 was Hastomo Arbi era. He defeated Han Jian in the final. 2000 , maybe Hendrawan and Taufik Hidayat era
Yes, that's the year when Yang Yang no longer playing, and the over-the-hill Zhao Jian Hua losing to Sidek who was playing probably the best game of his life. And Malaysia went on to beat INA in the final. Look at the next 2 TC's, Lin Dan, Bao CL, Chen Jin, Cai/Fu will probably still playing. Unless there is 1 or 2 young super stars coming out from other countries, I doubt if any other countries can challange China in the next 2 TC's.
It's hard to say. At the situation now, China is definitely the clear favourite to win the next few TC. But, a lot of things can happen. Some of the Chinese players might get injured and 'boom' - everything goes into ashes. Indonesia is strong this time but look at what happen to Taufik and Sigit, not to mention Wong Choon Hann too. Injury is something that cannot be predicted. Hence, saying that no country can challenge China in the next 2 TC is quite inacurrate. It sounds degrading to other countries as though that China has win even before the competition has started.
Probably 1996 - 2000 is every body's era. There were so many good players but no one really dominating - Poul Erik Larsen, Peter Gade, Peter Rasmussen, Handrawan, Sun Jun, Taufik, Xia Xuanze, Ji Xin Peng, .....
But looking at how well China team adapts to changes and how quickly they learn and transform themselves to overcome challenges....I have no doubt China will become the dominant for many years to come.
